Our Featured Adult Rider of the Month is Alison Thompson
Alison has been a Lancer member for almost two years, joining us not long after her son, James, completed our Junior Beginner Course. Coming off a 30-year break from riding she was lucky enough to quickly find a spot available in our A3 class and fit right in, though not without some sore muscles the next day. She credits our head instructor Angie for showing her how great Lancers’ could be: “One day, when James and I were eating a picnic dinner in the observation room before his ride we saw Oliver messing about with his rider – Oliver tosses his head about, enjoying himself, and his rider from finding it tricky to get the best from him that day. Angie was instructing, and she got on Oliver. I was super-impressed, because at the first step away from the mounting block Angie had turned Oliver into a sleek, well-balanced, concentrating horse with his haunches under him ready for action. That’s when I really realized that Lancers had amazing horses and amazing leaders.”
Alison grew up in the UK and spent her childhood riding horses. She says one of her first memories is of falling off her pony, Donna, during a gymkhana race she was doing with her Dad. “As I tumbled off the back I could hear my Dad shouting, encouraging me to insert the flag/stick into the pylon, as he had not realized that I was no longer in transit.” She continued to compete in gymkhana races and jumping until the age of 15 when a surgery kept her from riding for a few years. By the time she recovered she had moved on to school work and other things and took a long break from riding.
Oliver is one of Alison’s favourite Lancer horses for his respectful but still fun attitude, but she is currently learning to love Merlin. “I feel like we’re just beginning a complex dance with each other. Most of my child-hood ponies, post DannyBoy, were “spirited” in some way and really fancied themselves as prima-donnas or getaway horses or side-stepping ghosts, etc. Merlin is a bit like that, always trying it on but in fact loving the occasion and fuss.”
Lancers is a big part of Alison’s life with her daughter and son riding here as well as herself. She enjoys the Lancer community and the skills that all Lancers contribute to the barn. “I love that Lancers really identifies and uses the skills that each and every person has. Every person that comes through the door is valued for the skills they DO have, and their willingness to use those skills for the better good of the horses, rather than be belittled because they can’t do everything. Shavings night is a great example – children starting at age 8 stand in a line and pass each other a big bale of shavings, some slowly and some quickly, until the bale reaches the stacking area. There are multiple lines, and so a slow line gets the bales less frequently but they still get the bales and they most definitely contribute. Without the multiple lines, the job would take a lot longer. So, with each person being valued for the bit they CAN do, the job gets done faster. It’s brilliant.” To learn more about Alison, click here!